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Pakistan International Airlines: Efforts have been continued to sell Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for years. Now the government has decided to give it completely in private hands and has given new offers to investors.
26-04-2025
Pakistan International Airlines: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which was once the country’s prestigious government aviation company, is now immersed in continuous losses and debt. The government has been trying to sell it for many years, but so far no solid buyer has been found. After two unsuccessful attempts, the government has now taken a big step by changing the strategy. Under the new scheme, the company buying PIA will be given 100% stake in it, which will give full control. Along with this, the government has offered many attractive offers like tax exemption, legal safety, and economic cooperation to woo investors. The last date for bidding has been fixed on 3 June 2025 and the auction will be done by the end of this year. This time the government hopes that due to new rules and offers, more bidder will be attracted and PIA will get new life.
Efforts to sell for many years failed
The government has been trying to sell Pakistan’s official aviation company Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for a long time. This company once used to work like India’s Government Air India. But in the past years, this company, immersed in continuous deficit and debt, could not get the buyers. Now the government has decided to hand over the PIA completely in private hands. According to the ET report, whichever company will buy PIA, it will get 100% stake and complete control in it. The last date for bidding has been fixed on 3 June 2025, while the auction will be held between October and December 2025.
Sales process has failed twice, buyers did not like the conditions
The Government of Pakistan tried to sell this airline twice before, but both times it felt disappointed. For the first time in October 2024, when the company was introduced for auction, there was only one bid, which was just $ 36 million. This amount was much lower than the government’s fixed price of $ 305 million. At that time, investors did not show interest in PIA’s old loans, tax liabilities and other legal hurdles. This was the reason that the government had to change the strategy again.
Trying to woo investors through new offers and rules
To make PIA more attractive, the Government of Pakistan has announced a variety of offers to investors. The biggest advantage of these is that 18% General Sales Tax (GST) will be forgiven on leasing or purchasing the new aircraft. Apart from this, the government will help in improving the financial situation of the company and will also provide security to investors in some tax and legal matters. Also, the rules of bidding have also been changed. Now airline companies as well as non-airline companies can bid, provided that their annual income is at least 200 billion rupees and they can prove it through the audit recorded.
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